Global market cues point out to a cautious-to flat opening for the Indian market today. US markets closed in the red on Thursday on a sudden rise in initial jobless claims and consumer spending trends indicated lower-than-expected retail sales in July. Markets in Asia, weighed down by the US economic data, are trading mostly lower early today. The SGX Nifty is trading with a loss of 6.5 points at 5,449 against its previous close of 5,455.

The Indian market was in a consolidation mood on Thursday after three days of gains. The session started on a positive note and was range-bound for a major part of the trading day. However, profit-booking in the last half-hour saw the benchmarks giving up all gains accrued in the session. The Sensex ended at 18,172, down 44 points (0.2%). The Nifty shut at 5,447, down 20 points (0.3%).

Annual food inflation fell marginally to 9.53% for the week ended 24th July as prices of vegetables, especially potato and onion declined government data on Thursday showed. Food inflation, which was 9.67% for the week ended 17th July, remained in single digit for the second consecutive week.

Meanwhile, fuel inflation for the week ended 24th July stood at 14.26% against 14.29% in the previous week.

The US markets ended lower on Thursday, weighed down by dour economic news that fuelled concerns about the pace of the economic recovery. Weekly jobless claims data revealed initial claims for jobless benefits rose to 479,000, the highest level since early April. Besides, sales at 30 retail chains rose 3%, less than the 3.2% average forecast by analyst. This is the fourth month in a row sales have trailed estimates.

The Dow fell 5 points (0.05%) to 10,674.98. The S&P 500 fell 1 point (0.1%) to 1,125.81. The Nasdaq fell 10 points (0.4%) to 2,293.06.

Weak US markets impacted Asia in early trade today. Shanghai Composite was down 0.4%, Hang Seng was down 0.2%, KLSE Composite was down 0.1%, Nikkei 225 was down 0.3%, Straits Times was down 0.7% and Seoul Composite was down 0.2%. On the other hand, Jakarta Composite gained 0.1% and Taiwan Weighted was up 0.7%. The SGX Nifty is trading with a loss of 6.5 points at 5,449 against its previous close of 5,455.

Planning Commission deputy chairman Montek Singh Ahluwalia on Thursday said the current high level of inflation at 10.55% is a problem, but it should come down to a comfortable level of 6% by December.

"Inflation right now is a problem and the government recognises that...In my judgment by the end of this year it will not be what it is now. It will be much close to 6%, which most people regard as a comfortable level," Mr Ahluwalia said at a panel discussion.